Lentil Love

From my BFF, Gwyneth - ok, actually from www.goop.com:

Lentil ‘Meatballs’

2 cups cooked lentils

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1small onion, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup fresh ricotta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the real stuff, people)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
pinch of each: dried fennel seed, dried thyme, dried rosemary
handful of cherry tomatoes
½ cup packed basil leaves

olive oil

sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange cherry tomatoes in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and place in oven. Keeping a close eye on them, cook for about 5 minutes until they’ve burst and melted, but not burned or dried out. Keep oven heated for the meatballs.

2. Drizzle a pan with olive oil, place over medium high heat and add onion. Sauté for about a minute until translucent. Add the garlic and dried herbs and a pinch of salt and pepper, sautéing for about another minute or two until soft and fragrant. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.
 

3. Place lentils in a food processor with tomato paste and a drizzle of olive oil and pulse until smooth.
 

4. Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add ricotta and mix with beaten eggs until combined. Add lentils and mix together until smooth. Add onion/garlic/herb mixture from the frying pan, parmesan and panko breadcrumbs and season with salt and pepper. Mush together (hands are best for this) until combined. If mixture is still feeling wet, add more breadcrumbs until the mixture is dry enough to stick together and roll into balls.

5. Place basil in mortar and pestle drizzle in about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, and grind until it forms a thick oil (it’s ok if there are still bits of basil).

6. Roll lentil mixture into small balls and place on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for about 8-10 minutes. Turn balls, and bake for another 5 minutes, until slightly browned.

7. Drizzle with basil oil and serve alongside cherry tomatoes.

Flight

We saw Flight this weekend, starring Academy Award winner, Denzel Washington, who turned out another amazing performance, this time as a commercial airline pilot who had a long-standing struggle with alcohol and cocaine.  He had more demons than purpose, even with many "souls" (NTSB terminology)  in his care.

Like other movies by director Robert Zemeckis, this one had really cool special effects and a thrilling start that drew us immediately in.  I wouldn't recommend watching this movie if you're catching a flight in the morning.  And if R-rated movies bother you, move on.  I don't know much about catastrophic airplane equipment failures, and the plausibility of maneuvering the aircraft the way the pilot heroically did in the beginning minutes of the film, but I recognize his mental struggle and his character and think the movie got all of that spot on.

We were rooting for someone who belonged in prison, someone so full of charm and self-loathing that our struggle mirrored his own.  We loved him and hated him and most of all wanted to believe him, all his quirky excuses, all his far-fetched defenses, all his stories.  We were along for the ride and felt his inner resistance.  The pilot just could NOT stop drinking for very long at all, even when the stakes got very high.  He put his life - and so many others - in danger.

Denzel Washington provided a poignant portrayal of the struggles of the addict - and the people whose lives he touched.  He was a charmer and a jerk, broken and selfish, compelling and constantly tempted.  We saw the disappointments, felt the despair, witnessed the self-destruction.  We pulled for him even though he wasn't pulling for himself.  It was a painful and believable performance, and the dichotomy of him as both hero and addict really sucked me in.

The Hollywood ending is a little bit disappointing, because whipping this addiction isn't usually this neat and tidy.  He found his rock bottom and then found redemption.  And there waiting was his curious 15-year-old son, ready to discover him,  describing his dad as "the most fascinating person I've never met".

Power Posing

This past week, I welcomed a new hire to our work group and did my best to thoughtfully onboard him.  At the same time, I'm in the middle of another search.  So I've been thinking about how to recruit the right people, the right fit, for the team.  I know interviewees and new hires are usually intentional in how they behave because they know judgments are made in the first few seconds of exposure to strangers.  I'm more aware than ever that on the other side of that equation, on the other end of the table, the person running the show is also probably conscious of showing who they are.  The actors have arrived and the stage is getting set.

It doesn't mean anyone has to be less powerful.  It's all in the pose.  Social scientists have long noticed that we humans tend to complement another person's pose.  If the other person is dominating, we retreat or at least dial it down a bit.  However, if you want to take the power, or at least not lose your advantage, it's a better strategy to mirror the other's pose.  If they lean forward, you lean forward.  If they sit back, you do the same.

It's a given that the video in our lives trumps the audio - that how we behave is bigger than whatever words we choose to say.  Our nonverbals govern how others think and feel about us - but the newer thing is that researchers are discovering that our nonverbals also influence the most important person in your life - YOU!  Your presence, your thoughts and feelings, impact how you carry yourself, and the tape you play in your head.  That's what this 5-minute clip below is all about - it contends that tiny tweaks in your posture going into a stressful event can lead to big changes, one that encourages acting powerful and dominant, which are two pretty awesome adjectives to bring with you to a job interview, or anywhere else you are lookin' to score a win.

Depression Prevention

I took a Personal Health Assessment online tonight offered by my employer.   I admit I bit on the incentive to earn a quick sixty-five bucks.  I thought I would fly through it but actually found it worthwhile.  I know only a little about depression and there was a section on the test that was clearly trying to ascertain where you land on the happiness continuum.  I'm not hearing voices or having crying spells; for the most part, it seems my brain is behaving normally and from my POV, life is cooperating, and nicely.  But clinical depression, while being the serious kind and affecting chemical changes in the brain and all age groups, isn't the only kind of depression.

I know I've suffered situational depression from time to time - most of us have, too.  Stressful events such as experiencing a death or divorce, a job loss, other kinds of failure or isolation, can cause even the strongest among us to pull the covers over our head.  (I have, by the way, found this method very effective.)  Other methods include:

• Controlling negative thinking every day
• Engaging in healthy, pleasant activities like phoning a friend
• Breathing exercises or buying cute yoga pants
• Exercising for 30 minutes or even dreaming you will soon

The Wellness group at work really encourages facing it head on and slapping it down.

And then there was the question for the modern worker, prodding about impediments to doing your best, because of things such as personal problems, financial concerns, anxiety...or TECHNOLOGY ISSUES.  You're welcome to anyone I have ever helped with a computer question!

I also learned that I'm suppose to avoid alcohol and exercise within 4 hours of  bedtime, and also get at least 7 hours of sleep a night.  Really?  Is that even possible?  Negative thoughts are seeping back in now.  How is that going to work?   Well, I guess I actually don't fall asleep until 3 am so maybe I will be okay.  I wonder if I can start my work day at 11.

The cheery part of the assessment was my final score...I'm doing moderately okay.  It didn't hurt that I got extra points for never using clove cigarettes or smokeless tobacco - YAY for me!

For Better, Forever

We met with our engaged couple tonight and I really enjoyed our session.  We had three fairly profound topics to cover and the deep conversation that resulted has stayed with me: 

The families from which we came - the point here is that every family is powerful and it is important to examine how you've come to inherit certain ways of speaking, thinking, acting.  It's normal that you take on your childhood influences and it's normal that you think that the way your family did things is the CORRECT and normal way of doing things.  For example, if your family struggled every month to make ends meet, you might just think that's normal.  If you ate your dinner in front of the TV when you were a kid, you might adopt that as your new tradition when you marry.  If you are not mindful, that is, you do not recognize these behaviors, you will likely repeat them, whether they are healthy or not.  Here's the nugget:  you will never fully understand your own self and your own behaviors until you understand the family from which you came.

The person I have come to be - Since our family of origin helped shape our foundation, it is important to reflect on what was exactly built.  Is it shaky?  Can it withstand a tsunami?  How can you offer the gift of yourself to another if you haven't been honest with yourself?  Sharing only your good side is a scam, and is probably, structurally, not going to weather the storms of life.  A whole person is not a perfect person, people!

Family traditions - (I keep hummin' the Hank Williams song...)  Anyway, the point here is that family traditions are simply the way our family did things.  For example, how did your family celebrate birthdays and holidays?  How did they handle crises?  We tend to think that the way our family did things is the way things SHOULD be done!  Not necessarily always so!  Couples trying to blend their lives should reflect on their family traditions and then share those experiences with each other.  From there, they should walk a white sand beach and collectively decide what traditions they want to establish or preserve and adopt as their own (beach is optional) for their lives together.  This isn't going to happen overnight, mind you, and it takes a lot of effort!  It's important to note that in times of stress or upheaval, we tend to default to the traditions, er, behaviors, we learned growing up...which speaks to the hugeness of those early years.

This is extremely valuable stuff for engaged couples to consider.  But I don't think you need to be in the process of planning a wedding to think about these things.  I don't think you even need marriage to think about this.  A lot of it comes down to this - "What's my relationship with me?"

Donation

In the spirit of the new year - and buckling under the pressure from a volunteer who wanted to register us - we agreed to donate our blood today.  I didn't really want to participate - it was a sacred Saturday morning, plus, honestly it required me to work those personal goals of getting out of my comfort zone whenever possible, trying new things and volunteering in the community.

I hadn't donated since I was much younger and I was a little tentative.  I was ok with testing my hemoglobin and getting asked a lot of personal questions (I even had to point out the region in Greece we recently visited so they could cross-check with potential malaria areas) - but my weight?  Why did they need to know THAT?  Apparently they just need to make sure you weigh more than 110 pounds and I'm happy pleased okay reporting that I passed that test just fine.

The phlebotomist was engaging and sensed my fear and explained everything, especially when I told her I was currently writing this blog in my head.  She told me she works out of Davenport, Iowa (Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center) and that is where our blood was headed.  She explained that everything is timed carefully because the blood cannot sit idle, and, volunteers (they couldn't do what they do without them) arrive at predetermined times to receive and process the blood.  MVRBC, unlike other places, collects "quads" so your blood can potentially help 4 surgeries, er, human beings.  I started to get energized when I learned that the blood is distributed in states where loved ones reside:  WI, IL, IA, MO.  Not only is blood needed for accidents, but, duh, also for hip surgeries, knee surgeries, cancers, etc.

High school drives are always a big success - she said teenagers tend to be fearless, are enthused about getting excused from class, and appreciate the free snacks.  Athletes are notorious for donating - usually about two days before a big competition. It's a healthy thing to do. But the blood drives attract all over the demographic map, and all are welcome - unless you have or are at risk for infectious disease.  They screen carefully.  I asked about those who sell their plasma - she said MVRBC doesn't pay for blood because they believe they get more authentic answers to lifestyle questions from people who are driven to donate by something other than money.  She said the plasma is mostly used for research and training and they go to tremendous lengths to verify the blood and protect the donor's - and the recipient's - safe experience.

Instead of that tall Blonde roast I had yesterday, it would've been smart to hydrate before the draw (drink twice as much water as you normally do the day before).  This encourages your veins to plump so the draw goes faster.   (I donated 460 mL but the typical donation is 510 mL if you are bigger and are hydrated.)  Oh - and we are free to donate in 56 days...and you can bet I hope to do just that!

Knights of Columbus: part blood drive, part pancake breakfast.

They draw six vials in addition to the quad so the lab can quickly test your blood when it arrives

.

Hey there, 2013!

"The privilege of a lifetime is to be who you are." 

- Joseph Campbell (the "Follow your bliss" scholar) 

Happy 2013 everybody!

I'm looking forward to the year ahead and thinking about everything I can GAIN.  The idea of being faithful where I am - to be more mindful in the dreams I chase - this is a refreshing mindset and how I want my life to inch along.  This is what I'm thinking about today.  Joy is my birthright and the year ahead is so full of promise.  I can't wait to get started!

Of course this doesn't preclude the notion of LOSING those pesty ten pounds.